Nonsequitur--As always, you are anything BUT!!! I particularly like the United Way semi idea. The only reason summer was suggested is because our school has quite a few fundraisers going on besides the new playground (8th grade final dance, PTA, 6th grade camping trip etcetera), and we (a volunteers association who is right now only supposed to be raising monies for the new playground) were asked to interfere as little as possible. Our PTA doesn't handle those types of issues, and it's left to our principal to organize all that. Earth Day is a good idea though, and I'm sure our BOE would like that angle.

The thievery I'm familiar with. I had people stealing broken toys, pot lids, it was unbelievable. I figured the pricing would be generic--large signs at each grouping of items, with a pricelist at the register, unless something was marked.

We can't get a gaming license until we have a year's worth of finances to show the gaming commission here in Jersey, so any "games of chance" fundraisers are out. There are plenty of "non gaming" fundraisers out there, but we're just trying to find the biggest money makers that don't need a gaming license.

Ah.. the smell of garage sales in the morning....

What you can expect at a garage sale -

Lots of clothes, books, heavily loved toys.
Dealers (Fleamarket vendors, ect) may show up before you "open." Make it clear that nothing is sold until you are ready.
You will need to make pricing clear so people will buy more.
Have boxes at the front door for shopping and plastic bags at the register so it's easier to buy more.
It will get crowded. Plan for noise and congestion - and chaos.
You will sell concessions if you have them. It's a great place for snack and soda sales. Most people hit more than one garage sale if they are out and will like to have a drink. I once bought a 10 cent cup from a lady just so she'd fill it with ice water.

One word to the wise. People do steal from garage sales and (gasp) schools. Don't put a valuable item were it can be taken easily such as putting it on display in a vacant front hallway. Never step away from the cash box even for a second.
Teach all your cashiers that when giving change, they must put the money they are being paid with on top of the register were they and the customer can see it, then sort out the change. Then there is no question what bills you were given and no mistakes (intentional or not) will be made. There are people that will hand a cashier a $20 bill and then when given change insist that no, they paid with the largest bill in the drawer. Yes, people are still doing the "Gypsie Switch".

Generally if you have a cashier at a schoolwide garage sale, you post prices and there is no (overt) haggling. Sorting and pricing is the biggest issue for time and manpower.
To simplify pricing, you could price by category such as all hardbound books are $1, all paperbacks are 25 cents. Put up a sign that's easy to see. If something looks very valuable, then put it in a special section with a price tag on it.
Don't forget to reduce prices toward the end. Seasoned garage salers expect it and you'll have less to pack up.
I have seen United Way leave the cargo part of a semi at donation sites. I wonder if they would let you use one as storage with the understanding that you would have it packed with donations (and you will) for them to pick up after your sale.
I have also wondered if this would have a better PR spin if you had an Earth Day swap meet and get people thinking about the "reuse" part of the three R's. (recycle, reduce, reuse)
I know several churches that have a garage sale as a yearly event. People plan on coming each year because it's so big now. They seem to do very well.

We have a POD united donated for two weeks before the Garage Sale. Parents drop off donations in the morning when they drop off their kids. The BIG job is moving the items from the storage unit, sorting and pricing. We hold the sale in the community center across the street from the school and place the POD unit in the parking lot of the community center for the two weeks.

Our first year we made almost $1000 solely from selling the donated items. This year our 6th Graders are raising money for Graduation and will have a "Boutique" area of nice items, and are volunteering to pick up big items from people on the Saturday before. Also, they plan to hold a bake sale with items that are a day old donated from local bakeries.

It takes a handful of dedicated parents to work the day before, pricing and sorting, and on the day of the sale. Also, we are not including clothing in the sale this year as we found it takes a lot of time to sort, and brings in a nominal return.

We've done community garage sales a couple years. Ours was a combination where we "rented" spaces in the parking lot for individual booths and then also solicited items for the PTO booth. We also had some minor concessions.

It was a lot of fun and offered a true community spirit type event. But you are right - storing the items in advance can be a problem. The biggest pain truly is sorting and pricing everything. And, of course, the bigger your sale -the more of that there is to do.

We liked having the different sellers as it made for a much bigger event and attracted more buyers. One key item for us was arranging for a Salvation Army or Goodwill truck on site. Once the sale was over, leftovers simply went in the truck. No hauling stuff away!

A garage sale (tag sale, yard sale--whatever) was proposed as a fundraiser to hold during the "off season" of summer. Rather than charging per booth, we would have the items donated to us, so anything we sell comes at a profit. Being lazy, and knowing how annoying my own home garage sale was , I'm hesitating. BUT--at that same annoying sale of my own, with merchandise like books, toys, kitchen stuff and a couple of beat up pieces of furniture (believe me, nothing will be showing up on Antiques Road Show!), we managed to pull in $500 in one day. So, the possibilities are there, but.... I'm seeing storage until the sale as an issue. Advertising is no biggie, nor are things like tables. It was suggested pricing would be low enough to avoid haggling, and it would also move the merchandise.

Can anyone give me the down low on the garage sale scene?